sugar and sleep

[booboobunny]

my 13 month old has never been a good sleeper, but recently we've had a few nights when she is just so full of beans at bedtime that getting her off to sleep is a total nightmare. somewhat annoyingly, last night the husband (who never comes up with good ideas) suggested it might be to do with what we give her for dinner, as this is the only variable in a wind down/bedtime routine which is fairly well established. he suggested that giving her something sweet to round off her dinner might be the key. thinking about it now i reckon he has a point. she doesn't have a sugarfest or anything but, in the best of british traditions, i do give her dessert of an evening. generally a yoghurt or fruit (puree gunk or the real thing), but occassionally something more treaty.

what do others think - has anyone had the same experience and fixed it through changing diet? and, as i am giving her a 'main meal' (she has a sandwich type lunch with the childminder) can anyone suggest anything to round off her meal that won't have the effect of giving her excess energy. or is this even important?

i have posted this on the 'sleep' threads too, just in case there's any other advice there.

never had a problem with sugary puddings affecting sleep. Does your lo have a bath at night? At that age my dd used to get wound up by her bath rather than calming down so we stopped giving it at night and she had one in the morning instead.

yup we do have a bath, but i think this is a really good wind down for her. she is VERY active generally, with a pretty short attention span, but the bath tends to be quite a calm and focused time. generally i think this contributes to her bedtime routine in a positive way. sometimes she'll drop off on her daddy's shoulder 2 minutes out of the bath, before she's even got a nappy on! others (less frequently thank heavens) she'll still be dancing, chatting and singing nearly 2 hours later of course! (like last night for e.g.!)